The Comprehensive United in Stormwind Preview

 

Harbor Scamp

Say hello to the new Cagematch Custodian of the format. This card will be played in every single competitive Warrior deck, and it will perform well in all of them. Scamp is a buff to the class’ consistency across the board. We think there’s no need to say too much about it. A 2 mana 2/2 that draws is great. Running a few pirates is worth the restriction. End of story.

Score: 4

Heavy Plate

Cards that only gain armor tend to be unplayable, which is why cards like Shield Block and EVIL Quartermaster were so good. Once you tie armor to another effect, it becomes competitive worthy. Here, the effects aren’t tied together. Tradeable might lessen the bad timings in which Heavy Plate is drawn, but that still doesn’t make it okay.

Score: 1

Stormwind Freebooter

Warrior’s SI:7 Agent, but much better on curve. It also stacks with weapons later, allowing you to remove a bigger minion. If Warrior needs a critical mass of pirates, it will run Freebooter. It’s a nice follow-up to Scamp. Would also be good in aggressive Pirate Warriors, if they’re ever viable again (the current direction of the tribe seems to be more defensive for this set).

Score: 2

Shiver Their Timbers

This is a strong removal card for a Pirate deck. At its baseline, it’s not good enough to see play as Warrior is stacked with better options. But, if we can consistently field a pirate on the board, this is going to be quite consistent at generating a big swing. We’re a bit worried about whether a Control Warrior deck will be able to accommodate such a package, but if it does, Shiver is a nice bonus.

Score: 2

Cargo Guard

This card is one of the best standalone pirates of this set and might become a staple in Control Warrior. A 3 mana 2/4 that gains 3 armor is already quite a nice deal, but the fact this is a persistent effect essentially gives it taunt as well. This is a big headache for aggressive decks that are simply forced to trade or see their efforts at pressuring you turn fruitless. So, it’s a 3-mana 2/4 that gives you 7 effective health very often. That’s an easy sell.

Score: 3

Cowardly Grunt

This card is strong in Big Warrior, but we’re not sensing the return of this archetype to serious competitive play. This is a Possessed Lackey type of card with a deckbuilding restriction that the class is unlikely to support effectively. There’s always a chance the archetype will sneak up and see a little bit of play, but it seems like a sketchy strategy against many of the things we’re about to face.

Score: 2

Provoke

This card turns every single minion in your deck into a potential pseudo-AOE, or a rush minion. It costs NO mana and can be combo’d with any minion you’d like to play on curve. It’s particularly insane with Venomous Scorpid, but makes every minion in your deck better. Think of how slow cards such as Kresh, Mutanus, and Rattlegore become far more beneficial to drop to the board and make an immediate, back-breaking impact.

This card would be a consideration in Control Warrior without being tradeable. The one drawback? It doesn’t work well with Raid the Docks, because cards that require a ‘partner card’ become less consistent in a deck that starts the game a card down.

Score: 3

Remote-Controlled Golem

No, this isn’t what we want to provoke. This card is hilariously slow, doesn’t protect you whatsoever, doesn’t impact the board, and has an effect that takes multiple turns to matter just a little bit. We’re honestly not sure what it’s doing here, but if this card gave birth to Provoke, then we’re happy to let it sit in our collection.

Score: 1

Raid the Docks

This quest is relatively simple to complete, helps quite a bit after the first stage by drawing a weapon (that’s one of the best things about it), and provides a reward that should close out faster matchups quite effectively. The infinite weapon reward is quite interesting but makes this quest viable at late-game matchups as well since you can continuously deal damage to the opponent without any resource-related worries. The value is there, but we still have doubts on whether Raid the Docks can close out games against strong defensive decks. It might need more than simply turtling for this reward, which is fair due to the relative ease of completion.

Another concern is the number of pirates we need to run. Some of the pirates are great, but with the need to play 7 of them to get the reward, it gets a bit difficult to find 10-12 of them (that’s probably going to be the sweet spot, with Scamp helping us proc the quest twice).

The final concern is almost repeatedly mentioned when it comes to quests. When we’ve tried building many of them, we’ve often wondered whether we’re better off not running them at all. Whether this tendency in deckbuilding ends up an accurate prophecy remains to be seen. Control Warrior without the quest might just be a bit more stable and reliable, though as we’ve said earlier, Juggernaut is going to beat most decks in the format once it comes down.

Score: 2

Lothar

This card is a consideration for Rush Warrior, or a target minion in a questionable Big Warrior. In either case, we’re not thrilled to run it. This is not amazing when we’re dealing with a wide board. It’s weak on an empty board. Its best use is when we’re dealing with a single minion or two, and even then, it feels like a glorified rush minion for 7 mana. Warrior decks are going to be stacked with options, and this may fall through the cracks, but it does nicely fill the curve in Rush Warrior just before the Troublemaker turn.

Score: 2

Final Thoughts

United in Stormwind Set Rank: 5^th

Overall Power Ranking: 2^nd

We like the Warrior set. We don’t love everything about it, but there is one card that really give us the confidence that the class will be successful at Stormwind. Harbor Scamp is just way too good. This is the perfect card to increase the consistency of a deck, most notably Rush Warrior, which has been extremely successful during Barrens. But, if there was one weakness in the deck it was its card draw options. This is a much more impactful addition than, for example, Aimed Shot in Face Hunter or Persistent Peddler in Deathrattle DH. Add some important neutral card draw options that the deck should appreciate, and it will be much more difficult to run the deck out of resources.

What’s interesting about this set is that the pirate tribe is changing its ways. The new pirates don’t seem to exhibit a hyper-aggressive style, but one that supports a Control Warrior deck. Cargo Guard is a striking sign of the change.

And this is where the Warrior quest may thrive. A pirate-based defensive Warrior deck can first focus on surviving and win most matchups through the inevitable power of the Juggernaut. We think there’s a decent chance that Raid the Docks ends up being viable (this is our favorite quest and the one we think is most likely to succeed) but there’s still the lingering doubt that Control Warrior can do better without it.

Why would Control Warrior be stronger at Stormwind? Provoke. This card is so very versatile at 0 mana and can go a long way towards helping the archetype stabilize more easily early on, which means it can greed up further in the late game and put out more pressure in control matchups.

Remember when Garrosh and Thrall were stuck in a retirement home with no real decks to compete with? Just look at them now, sitting together at the top of the meta. On paper.